The report that the proposal was made by no less a figure than the ECB President Mario Draghi, at a meeting of euro-finance ministers in Brussels as recently as July 9, has naturally excited much comment in Dublin.

“If the reports are true, it would strengthen very much the hand of the Irish government in re-negotiating the historic banking debt because Irish banks were recapitalized so that senior bank holders were repaid in full,” Michael McGrath, spokesman for the Fianna Fail opposition party, said.

In the past, Irish government ministers have bitterly complained that Irish taxpayers have had to bear the huge costs of saving even “dead” private banks, because the ECB insisted that senior bank bond holders be repaid in full to help stop contagion in the rest of the euro zone.

Since coming to power 16 months ago, the Irish coalition government has bowed to the previous ECB policy to repay senior bank bond holders.

The coalition effectively reneged on an election pledge to force senior bond holders share the burden for the disastrous banking collapse.

Irish government ministers Friday played down the chance of reaching agreement by the end of the month on the rescheduling of payments on promissory notes used to bail out two failed banks over three years ago.

The government has been in talks for months with the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund on rescheduling the notes, which were pledged for Anglo Irish Bank Corp. and Irish Nationwide Building Society–now jointly renamed the Irish Bank Resolution Corp.–allowing the banks to qualify for emergency loans from the Central Bank of Ireland.

The next payment of €3.1 billion ($4.06 billion) on the notes is due March 31.

But in an interview in Sydney, Ireland’s Justice and Defence Minister Alan Shatter said that it was unlikely the matter would be resolved by that date.

“I think it’s an issue that could continue into the autumn of this year,” Mr. Shatter said in an interview.